Growth
Group, Gaara found, was surprisingly easy to tune out of, he just nodded and listened to everyone else who was there, occasionally noting how the faces always seemed to shift a little each week, whether it was due to someone showing up or someone not. One of the few constant faces Gaara was met with was that of Rock Lee, his sponsor.
Lee always seemed to have this….energy about him. He was always eager to help with menial tasks, such as passing out watered down coffees or handing a tissue to someone who had begun crying. He was promoting the joys of all of the different classes the community center held. Like working out, which was what Lee most often focused on during his rousing speeches about endorphins and relishing in youth, would actually make someone feel better instead of worse. Most of all though, Lee was always harassing Gaara.
Over text and in person Lee tried to get Gaara to open up to him, no matter the circumstance. Constant texts asking if he’d be coming to group or how his day had been when he wasn’t at group. It was ridiculous. Gaara tried, in the most polite fashion possible, to convey to Lee that they would never actually be friends like he had so hoped, though he was sure it was all just an act Lee was putting up in order to catch Gaara off his guard and do-well, Gaara wasn’t totally sure, but it didn’t matter.
Gaara only ever responded to Lee’s texts when he asked if he was showing up to group. He didn’t know why Lee kept asking, even if he chose not to come it wasn’t like it should have mattered to Lee. Lee always made it seem like it did though, as if Gaara was a dear friend when they barely knew each other at all. Lee did that a lot, it seemed to be part of his agenda to make Gaara uncomfortable around him. Along with the constant pestering, he always looked at Gaara like he was someone dear to him, and it was the only thing about Lee that actually won him over. He couldn’t help but have a soft spot for things like that, after all, it was really all he wanted.
That weakness was what got Gaara to agree, after weeks of pestering by the hands of Rock Lee, to go out for dinner with him. Lee, having left him with the easy out of possibly being required home, but that look on his face-in his eyes- was enough to convince Gaara to finally hang out with him after group for once.
He had texted him about it before, asking Gaara if he wanted to get something to eat or spend time in a park together on a random day of the week, but seemingly had never thought to ask him to his face until that very moment.
I would like for you to get dinner with me, I can even drive you home, if you want-or need me too. I remember you mentioning once that you take the train.
The longer Gaara listened to Lee talk, the more he noticed the odd idiosyncrasies he had, like, never using contractions. In all the times that they had spoken-or even when Gaara listened to him talk to other people in the group, he hadn’t heard a ‘can’t, wouldn’t, or even a don’t’ from Lee. He really was an all around weird. From his speech to his look, everything about him screamed weirdo that Gaara should have never even met, let alone been allowed to hang around him. Hell, if he had met Lee before...he would’ve probably destroyed him.
He looked into Lee’s eyes for a moment before finally nodding and with that they were off to the parking lot.
Lee had a clunker of a car, an old thing that was the same shade of green as a sweatshirt he was often seen wearing.
Lee got into the car first, having to manually unlock it rather than having a button on the keys like everyone else he knew-though everyone else was his brother and sister.
The inside smelled like car wash air freshener and something that was surprisingly, distinctly Lee. In the backseat was a large black fabric bag that’s smell wafted into the front seat, though only faintly. Gaara was certain they were gym clothes.
They drove in silence save for Lee playing music. He made some sort of joke about having to only play cds in the car because he couldn’t connect the bluetooth to his phone. Gaara hadn’t found it funny.
They ended up at a burger joint that really wasn’t that far from the community center, only ten minutes at max.
I will pay for your food. I realize that I must have shocked you with my sudden invitation, and I do not want to cause any other surprises tonight
Lee looked at him again in that way, the way that made Gaara’s insides twist up and his throat just a little dry.
Gaara ordered a triple decker burger, large fry, and a large chocolate milkshake, Lee looked at him like he had suddenly become a monster.
Despite his small frame, Gaara was prone to eating large amounts of food whenever given the chance. He liked the way food tasted, liked how it settled him with a warm, sleepy feeling after eating, and he felt like he had an endless stomach.
Lee ordered himself a small chicken nugget, small fries, and a bottled water.
It was awkward, sitting across from each other like that in absolute silence. The only comfort Gaara had in their meal together was that his silence was caused by the bites he took.
He found himself tense around Lee almost every time they were alone together, even though he was supposedly supposed to trust Lee and call him ‘whenever’. He stared Lee down, he really was his exact opposite.
Lee was tall, broad and muscular with thick dark hair that made him look like a goof. His fashion taste was that of an aerobics teacher in the 1980s, and he seemed to look at everyone like they had absolute good in their heart.
Gaara, on the other hand, was scrawny, pale, and looked to the world with absolute scorn. He dressed like a homeless middle schooler and-before he could finish his thought, he was met with his phone buzzing.
It was Kankuro, asking when he’d be home seeing as group was supposed to have ended fifteen minutes ago, and Gaara should be walking to the train station by now.
im eating out.
ALONE?!
with my sponsor. he asked me to come.
Gaara didn’t get another text from Kankuro for a long while, and he assumed that he was talking to Temari about it. He expected a text from her, telling him that he was proud or something like that. Gaara sighed, taking a sip of his milkshake.
Lee ate across from him in silence, though he was obviously itching to say something.
Gaara took a bite out of his sandwich, staring Lee down.
I hope you will not find it rude of me, but I was curious, who were you just texting
Gaara swallowed his bite, he had already eaten half of his burger.
My brother. He asked….if I was on the train yet, his voice came out raspy, it always did, and the moment he saw Lee’s face he came to a realization.
This was the most Lee had heard him say.
Gaara rarely ever spoke in group, and avoided when Lee called him, even when he had ordered, he had simply pointed at what he wanted as if he were a child.
Lee was biting back a ridiculous grin that made Gaara’s heart wiggle in the same way it always did when he looked at Lee.
Would you mind if I asked their names?
Lee’s voice was giddy.
Temari….my sister….and Kankuro
I have always been curious about what it would be like to have siblings, the closest I have had are my dear friends, Tenten and Neji
Gaara nodded, taking a french fry into his mouth.
They went on like that for a while, Lee asking Gaara different questions and Gaara giving simple answers, then Lee returning with information about himself until all of their food was gone.
Wow Gaara, I would have never expected someone of your stature of being capable of eating so much food. I am impressed!
Gaara felt himself warming up inside, ridiculously enough, It almost felt like he was spending time with a friend rather than someone who was just there to make sure he never went off the deep end again.
Lee drove him home, spending the car ride talking about how his apartment was much closer to the community center and how he respected Gaara’s determination to improve despite the distance between him and his goal.
Gaara stayed quiet, it was too early to admit that the only reason he was going to group therapy was because his sister had asked it of him.
When Lee dropped Gaara off, Kankuro was the one to greet him at the door, looking almost relieved that Gaara still had his shoes on and smelled only of grease and fried food.
He watched him wave to Lee, and for some reason felt ashamed of himself, like something embarrassing had just happened even though he had no clue as to what it was.
Gaara made his way into his room, kicking off his shoes just to fall flat on to his bed. He thought back to the green of Lee’s car. It had been so strangely peaceful, and the scent of the air freshener mixed with Lee’s natural smell made for a calming concoction. Lee was, to Gaara’s surprise, a calming person to be around. Despite all of his wild energy, he somehow made Gaara feel like he could relax around him and maybe, just maybe, put his walls down.
Lee had seemingly figured Gaara out after that, as long as he asked him in person, Gaara would go out to eat with him after group on fridays. Usually they would play their warped version of twenty questions, with Lee asking Gaara different things about his life and injecting things about his own while he did.
Gaara told Lee about the mysterious Shikamaru, his growing interest in watching the vines on the side of their townhouse get longer and longer, and Kankuro’s puppetry. It was strange, having someone to tell things like that too, and Lee made him feel like he actually cared.
It was nerve inducing, really.
When Gaara found a job at a plant nursery near his house, Lee was the first person he texted rather than Temari or Kankuro, and the message of:
That is fantastic! :)
Meant more than a message from either of his siblings ever could have.